Sanandaj  pronunciation  (Persian:سنندج‎‎ Kurdish: سنە, Sine). At the 2011 census, its population was 373,987, Sanandaj is the capital of Kurdish culture and Kordestan province at Iran. Sanandaj is the twenty-third largest city in Iran. Until the 17th century it was only a small village, when the governor of the region, Suleyman Khan Ardalan, built (or renovated) a fortress there, known as "Sena Dezh", which gave the town its Persian name. Some sources date the origin of the fortress to the period of Abbasid rule (750–1258).